Merry Christmas

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!I hope your holiday is full of exactly the things you love. As we have grown older and our marriage and our own traditions have developed we have become less and less of holiday enthusiasts. We have realized that we like to make others happy, to be with the people we love, to eat good food and to rest. Gifts and busyness and expectations and awkwardness just aren't our cup of tea.We love the magic and the feelings. Being on the other side of the world from our families is hard and we miss them so much, but we truly do love that we spend our holidays with one another, resting and enjoying the beauty of a new place (this year we're currently in New Zealand). We don't give gifts, we actually give to people we don't know who need things more than we do. We don't have high expectations or burdens of meeting other's expectations. We simply spend time talking to our family and to one another.We normally eat breakfast foods as our Christmas feasts. Sometimes I feel strange and a little ashamed that I don't really care to celebrate holidays in the traditional way and that I'm a little relieved to miss all the anxiety of Christmas in America. But,  I hope my confession encourages you: if you feel the same way to know that it is ok to just enjoy a day off of work with your family and that is celebration enough. And to those of you who are crazy for holidays, please keep being so! I love the decorations and the snacks and the parties and the cheer. So keep encouraging the rest of us to relish in the magic of the season, but remember to let a little bit of the pressure go and lean into those we love just for being there.So however you are celebrating this holiday, enjoy each other and good food and give thanks that our Saviour came to give us love and life today. Let's celebrate that.